The Washington Capitals don’t want to rely exclusively on their power play for offense, but every once in a while it’s not such a bad thing.

The Capitals recorded three power-play goals in the second period Friday night to surge past Carolina for a 4-2 win at PNC Arena, a victory made even more special when Alex Ovechkin sealed it with an empty-net tally for his 400th goal with 24.5 seconds remaining.

Ovechkin became the 89th player in NHL history to reach the 400-goal plateau and is the sixth fastest to do so, accomplishing the feat in 634 games (one game earlier than Pavel Bure).

“It’s big number and being in this kind of company, it’s a tremendous honor for me,” Ovechkin said. “I never felt like I’m going to be in this position when I start playing in NHL. Of course I wanted to be, but thanks to everybody — my coaches, my partners. Without them, I can’t reach these numbers.”

Washington improved to 7-2-1 in its past 10 games with the win over the Hurricanes and is 5-1-1 in its past seven. Marcus Johansson, John Carlson and Troy Brouwer all scored on the man advantage as the Capitals overcame a rough start, thanks largely to their rookie netminder. Philipp Grubauer had another strong performance, making 39 saves for his fourth win of the season. The 22-year-old remained undefeated in regulation as he out-dueled Carolina’s Cam Ward, who finished with 25 saves.

Once again, however, the Capitals had to weather their own struggles in the first period. Washington had difficulty advancing the puck past the red line in the opening five minutes and were outhustled at even strength for the bulk of the period. Meanwhile, Grubauer did his part to keep the visitors in the contest.